I know what you mean, but like someone said above, Apple is also making money by being efficient—in the supply chain, in the number of models they (don't) sell, in managing their own retail business, in running their own content ecosystem, and in the post-PC realm, by massively colonizing the entirely new economy of portable computing.
Because what they are doing is so new and, not coincidentally, so customer-driven, they are still perceived as the underdog, fighting mediocrity, by millions of fans. We are hoping this new business model will conquer the world, at least in terms of mindshare, and erase some of the worst aspects of the consumer exploitation in America's captalist past. But you have to add one crucial proviso to have all this work out ethically:
We are expecting that they're going to use their cash pile for some really big moves in the future that will change the world even more than they have already. Something on the scale of revolutionizing education, for example, or global communications.

We can already see Apple using its wealth to clean up the world. From Asia, and Australia to All of Europe, Apple is battling corporate greed and corruption.

Fighting with legions of lawyers for Truth, Justice, and the Apple Way!!

"That (the) world is moving so quickly that iOS is already amongst the older mobile operating systems in active development today." — The Verge

This is funny how people can guess the prices without actually having first hand knowledge.

I'm not going to guess how much it costs them to make these things because that's none of my business, plus they are the one's that design it, support it, investment in building mfg plants to make them and had to pay for tooling charges, etc.

"The research firm presumes the new A6 processor has a gigabyte of RAM, and that the internal battery is 1,400 mAh."
The current iPhone has a 3400mAh battery. The (very accurate) leaks showed a 3500mAh battery. If they can't even get this basic fact right I don't put much stock in the rest of it.

Your facts are axiomatically incorrect. The 4S is 1420mAh.

This bot has been removed from circulation due to a malfunctioning morality chip.

And some people argue that Americans are not really as dumb as the tests of educational achievement shows, nor is there any good reason to ship jobs overseas because the workforce is too dumb to do the jobs required.

Just read the crap comments on this site and other sites and you begin to realize that the vast majority of Americans truly are inferior to rest of the world.

Maybe you might feel that way about yourself, but I can assure you, there are plenty of idiots around the world.

This guessing the material cost is meaningless. It doesn't include manufacturing, development, licensing, and marketing cost. Further, Apple generally shares its gross profit margins, which is about 28 to 38 percent.

We can already see Apple using its wealth to clean up the world. From Asia, and Australia to All of Europe, Apple is battling corporate greed and corruption.Fighting with legions of lawyers for Truth, Justice, and the Apple Way!!

Regardless of actual cost $80-$167.50 , if Apple could/would drop the price....would they dominate the emerging markets with a ~$250 4s just, because they can/could, to gain on Android?

Maybe, maybe not. There are plenty of people who refuse to buy Apple products regardless of price. There are also those who are fixated on screen size and would buy a Galaxy SIII even if it were much more expensive than an iPhone. While it is clear that Apple would gain some sales, they would probably not make up for the loss in margins on existing products. So while they might gain market share, profits would decline - and Apple is not interested in share if it makes their profits drop.

In the end, I suspect that Apple knows more about maximizing their profits and properly pricing their phones than you do.

"I'm way over my head when it comes to technical issues like this"Gatorguy 5/31/13

There was a study in the Economist some months back that suggested that essentially all smartphones cost between $160 and $180 to make when new. The glass and aluminum don't seem to actually drive up the component cost much (though I suspect they sharply increased the production cost in other ways: factory equipment, etc.).

Quote:

Originally Posted by tjwal

tI doesn't include assembly cost either so the marginal cost is higher than $168.

The one problem I do have with Apple's pricing though, is the extra $100 for another 16 GB of memory.

This brings up an interesting, tangential point...

Amazon claims they aren't selling Kindle Fires at a loss. Previous articles on AI have mentioned the cost of the Fire's BOM, indicating that they were making a slim profit. But, once we add in the development, manufacturing and support costs, I suspect Jeff Bezos is lying when he says they aren't engaging in razor blade economics. This isn't surprising -- Amazon has never been the most straightforward and honest company when it comes to sales and profits -- but it makes the business model for the Fire seem even less tenable when you consider all the costs associated with it beyond the simple BOM.

We know from Apple's previous statements and third party research that the profit margins on iPhones are stratospheric. The same, I suspect, is true for other smartphones. You're looking at something like 60 percent margins on the iPhone even after R

We know from Apple's previous statements and third party research that the profit margins on iPhones are stratospheric. The same, I suspect, is true for other smartphones. You're looking at something like 60 percent margins on the iPhone even after R

It's a market economy ... Apple sells out most every phone they make, why drop the price? Plus, it's not like Apple's competition is hugely undercutting Apple's sales price.

Heck, the iPhones are so popular, the prices are even high in the resale market ...

We know from public filings that Apple's gross margins on iPhone for the last couple of years have been about 50%, and on iPad about 25%. Since much of that comes from the more expensive models, which don't cost much more to make, that suggests that if you buy the 16GB iPhone or iPad, you get a good deal. The idea that they are somehow extorting grotesque 300% profits from each phone is nonsense.